It's been a full year of Superdining with our restaurant panel. Some are transplants, some were born here. So we ask the Superdiners to share their first-ever encounter with a San Diego restaurant.

Read a full year of Superdiner recommendations, from the best dive bars in town to where to find great Italian food, click here.

My first meal in San Diego was at Hash House a Go Go (3628 Fifth Ave. Hillcrest. 619-298-4646 or hashhouseagogo.com). It’s got its charms — and I do go back now and then when friends visit town — but our rule of thumb for tackling the gargantuan portions is to order one portion fewer than the number in our party. Five people? Four plates do nicely. Two people? Split something. Going solo? Grab an escamocha at Señor Mango’s (4607 30th St. University Heights. 619-584-0041 or senormangos.com) instead. — Matthew Rowley, food historian, blogger (whiskeyforge.com; Twitter @mbrowley)

I was born here in San Diego so I don’t remember the first, but one of the more memorable places I frequented as a child was Filippi’s Pizza Grotto downtown (1747 India St. Little Italy. 619-232-5094 or realcheesepizza.com; various locations). — William Bradley, executive chef at Addison

I had to give some love to the ocean, so I didn’t stop driving till I hit the beach. Ocean Beach to be exact. I hit up South Beach Bar & Grille (5059 Newport Ave. Ocean Beach. 619-226-4577 or southbeachob.com) for peel-and-eat shrimp, 2 dozen oysters, fried baby octopus and an Avery White Rascal. Simple dinner, beautiful sunset, great welcome to a great city. — Ricardo Heredia, executive chef at Alchemy Restaurant

Blumers, which was a Jewish deli on 54th and El Cajon Blvd. My stepmother was from New York and she would need to get an East-Coast fix on weekly basis. — Robin Taylor, organic farmer at Suzie’s Farm and Sun Grown Organic Distributors

Red Sails Inn (2614 Shelter Island Drive, Shelter Island. 619-223-3030 or theredsails.com). A member of the USD staff took me there when I came down for a college visit in 1968. Although it has changed hands a number of times in the ensuing 44 years, it retains the same pleasantly broken-in harbor-side ambiance, and offers simple, honest food and drink at good prices. I’ve returned scores of times. — Gary W. Schons, local prosecutor, avid diner

The first San Diego restaurant I can remember dining in was the Reuben E. Lee, the paddle-wheel boat on Harbor Island next to what is now the C-Level/Island Prime restaurants. This dinner was back in the glory days of what was an exciting place to have dinner, with a fantastic view of a much different San Diego across the bay. Unfortunately, due to decay, the Reuben E. Lee closed in 2003, and an entirely new generation of San Diegans will never know the excitement of dining aboard a 19th-century-inspired paddle-wheeler restaurant. — David Salisbury, a law firm’s director of business development, avid diner

It was 1983. Father’s Day brunch with my family at The Crown Room (Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave. Coronado. 619-522-8490 or hoteldel.com/crown-room.aspx). My Dad was pretty peeved that all I ate were strawberries and bananas. I was 8 years old, I’d never eaten at such a fancy place before. Fast forward nearly 30 years later and my Dad loves to say how he wanted to kill me for spending so much on strawberries and bananas at The Del. — Joanne Arellano, human resources professional, avid Yelper, avid diner